2017 WY Conservation Overview

Ducks Unlimited is finding wetland and waterfowl habitat conservation opportunities in western Wyoming. DU is discovering projects where the resources and technical expertise of the staff can help. Ducks Unlimited is part of a wetland partnership that formed under the Wyoming Bird Habitat Conservation Partnership. In western Wyoming the group includes the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Jackson Hole Land Trust, Wyoming Wildlife Natural Resources Trust, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and many other organizations and private landowners. DU is helping advance the wetland conservation initiatives of the group.

Many Ducks Unlimited projects in Wyoming involve improvements to wetland areas that have degraded over time. Improvement projects are planned for South Park Wildlife Habitat Management Area (WHMA), near Jackson, and Soda Lake WHMA near Pinedale. The focus of these projects will be rebuilding and restoring water-control structures, reestablishing hydrology and removing overgrown vegetation. These steps will rejuvenate the areas and invite migrating waterfowl including trumpeter swans. DU staff members are writing a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposal to support these projects. Also in the planning stages are projects with the FWS on Seedskadee and Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuges.

Wetland restoration has been underrepresented in Wyoming and DU is driven to enhance migratory habitat for waterfowl and raise awareness of the importance of the region. Projects like those completed on Table Mountain and Ocean Lake Wildlife Habitat Management Areas are seeing waterfowl use and benefiting other species including upland birds like pheasants, and providing public spaces for outdoor recreation. The Wyoming Peaks to Prairie Experience in Lander, Wyoming in September gave DU’s development and conservation staff a chance to stress the significance Wyoming plays as a migration corridor to donors and other interests.